The A-to-Z of Yeovil's History

by Bob Osborn

Yeovil People

thomas charles
maggs

Chemist and
Fellow of the
Geological
Society

Thomas
Charles Maggs
was born on 13
March 1824 in
London, the son
of servant
Thomas Charles
Maggs Snr and
his wife Martha,
and was baptised
on 23 April 1824
at St
Marylebone.
Little is known
of his early
life but in
September 1845
at Bath,
Somerset, at the
age of 21, he
married
Charlotte
Bussell of Bath,
daughter of John
and Sarah
Bussell. Thomas
and Charlotte
were to have
nine children;
Catherine Marion
'Kate'
(1847-1916),
Amelia Charlotte
(1849-1887),
Elizabeth Martha
Dunlop (b 1851),
Henry Mortimer
(b 1852),
Frederick
Richard
(1854-1937,
Dental Surgeon),
William Adolphus
(1856-1941,
Physician &
Surgeon), Alfred
Charles (b
1857), Edward
John Quintus
(1864-1927,
Solicitor of
Hanover Square,
London) and
Eleanora
Beatrice (b
1867).

By the time
of the 1851
census Thomas
and Charlotte
were living in
the small
village of
Kelvedon, Essex,
with their two
daughters
Catherine and
Amelia together
with a domestic
servant. Thomas
gave his
occupation as
'Chemist &
Druggist'.

By 1855
Thomas had moved
his family to
Yeovil, and in
the 1861 census
35-year old
chemist and
druggist Thomas
was in residence
at the
Medical Hall
in the
Borough
with his wife
Charlotte, their
seven young
children, an
assistant, two
apprentices, two
house servants
(18-year old
twin sisters
Eliza and
Matilda
Bartlett) and an
errand boy.

It
would appear
that in 1860
Thomas Maggs'
rebuilt
the Medical
Hall, especially
after he
branched out
into dentistry.
By 1871 Thomas,
now aged 47, was
describing
himself as a
pharmacist and
dentist.
Charlotte and
seven of the
children were
living with him
and two of the
sons, 16-year
old Frederick
and 15-year old
William, were
listed in the
census as
chemist's
assistants.
There was also a
pupil
pharmacist,
presumably an
apprentice.

Thomas
Maggs used the
windows of the
Medical Hall to
exhibit various
fossils and
skeletons he had
collected. These
were displayed
below an array
of
brightly-coloured
chemist's jars -
the insignia of
his trade. The
Western Gazette
carried a series
of letters in
the 1930s in
which people
recalled earlier
Yeovil and one
correspondent
remembered
seeing the
skeletons of a
cat and a rat
displayed in
Maggs' window
which had been
found during the
demolition of
the "old
dressing yard
carried on in
Foot's Yard".
Apparently, it
was claimed,
that the cat had
chased a rat
deep into the
foundations but
the hole became
narrower and
narrower and
eventually both
rat and cat
died.

In fact Thomas
had amassed a
fine collection
of fossils by
1871 when it was
visited, and
warmly
commended, by a
party of the
Geologists
Association of
London. Exhibits
from Thomas'
fine collection
of fossils were
ultimately
dispersed and
specimens were
to be found,
among other
places, in the
Somerset County
Museum, the
Dorset County
Museum and the
Sherborne School
Museum. It would
appear that
Thomas sold much
of his
collection to
Robert Damon,
the famous
fossil dealer of
Weymouth.

In 1875
Thomas became
inextricably
linked to the
death of Henry
Turberville,
the eccentric
51-year old
brother of the
Victorian author
Richard
Doddridge
Blackmore,
author of Lorna
Doone. Henry had
made several
wills, the last
of which named
Thomas as his
sole executor
and willed his
estate to the
Maggs family
after having
fallen in love
with Thomas'
daughter
Elizabeth, at
the time aged 23.
While staying at
the
Three Choughs
Hotel, Henry
had become
"fascinated by a
fair Yeovilian
while staying at
the hotel." He
had proposed to
her and made out
a new will,
leaving
something like
£19,000
(approaching
£12.5 million at today's value) to her
and her family.
A court case
ensued, brought
on by Blackmore
who believed
Thomas had
murdered his
brother by
administering
drugs. Blackmore
lost the case
but the
solicitors
involved (there
were more
parties involved
than just
Blackmore and
Maggs) agreed a
settlement in
which Blackmore
received £2,000
and Thomas and
his family
received
£15,000.

In
the 1881 census
Thomas described
his occupation
as
'Pharmaceutical
Chemist and
Dentist'.
Charlotte was
still with him
as well as
daughter
Catherine. Son
Frederick was
also describing
his occupation
as a
Pharmaceutical
Chemist and
Dentist. In
addition there
were in
residence a
dental
assistant, a
chemist's
assistant, two
chemist's
pupils, a cook
and a housemaid.

In 1883 Thomas
was elected a
Fellow of the
Geological
Society, but
sadly on 26
January the
following year
Charlotte died,
aged 59. Shortly
after her death
Thomas moved to
56 Clarendon
Villas, Hove,
Sussex, where he
lived alone with
a servant. In
the 1891 census
67-year old
Thomas described
his occupation
as 'Living on
Own Means'. He
died on 26 July
1900 at 2
Cardigan Gate,
Richmond Hill,
Surrey.

On 3 August 1900
the Western
Gazette carried
Thomas' obituary
- "The sudden
death of Mr TC
Maggs, a former
resident of this
town, occurred
on Thursday July
26th at Richmond
Hill, Surrey,
the cause being
apoplexy. The
deceased
gentleman, who
it will be
remembered, left
Yeovil 16 years
ago to reside at
Brighton, was
well known in
this town and
neighbourhood as
an ardent
geologist, his
collection of
fossils being
one of the best
in the West of
England. He also
took an active
interest in
scientific
subjects, was a
Member of the
British
Association, and
a Fellow of the
Geological
Society...."

Thomas' will was
proved in
October 1900 by
his sons
Frederick and
William and his
estate was
valued at £7,908
17s 1d (around
£4.3 million at today's value).

gallery

Thomas Maggs'
advertisement in
the 23 January
1855 edition of
the Sherborne
Mercury.

Thomas'
advertisement in
the 17 April
1855 edition of
the Sherborne
Mercury. Note
that Maggs took
over the Medical
Hall following
Tytherleigh.

Thomas'
advertisement in
the 19 May 1857
edition of the
Sherborne
Mercury, in
which he notes
his former
employer Messrs
Dinneford & Co,
Bond Street,
London.

... and this
from the 29
September 1857
edition of the
Sherborne
Mercury.

An advertisement
in the 25 June
1864 edition of
the Western
Gazette
extolling the
virtues of
Thomas Maggs'
'Surgical and
Mechanical
Dentistry'.

This early
photograph dates
to about 1865
and looks
towards the
Borough from
High Street with
the end of
Middle Street at
centre. The
three-storey
building to
right of centre
was Thomas
Maggs' pharmacy
and dental
surgery,
named the
Medical Hall.
Maggs had
rebuilt the
Medical Hall in
1860

Courtesy of Tony
Rendell

A medicine
bottle used by
Thomas Maggs
during the
latter half of
the nineteenth
century.